MLS Week 2: Seattle Stays Undefeated

byDavidonMarch 29, 2009

Sounders FC 2, Real Salt Lake 0
Fredy Montero scored his third goal in two games and and top overall draft choice Steve Zakuani set up Nate Jaqua’s goal with a brilliant move in the first half for Seattle. Swedish star Freddie Ljungberg played his first MLS game and first game of any kind in nine months on Saturday night, finishing a routine final 29 minutes for the Sounders. Seattle joined the 1998 Chicago Fire as the only MLS expansion teams to begin 2-0-0. That Chicago team ended up winning the league championship.

Crew 1 Toronto 1
Guillermo Barros Schelotto scored on a penalty kick before Columbus teammate Gino Padula own goal late gave Toronto FC a 1-1 tie with the Crew on Saturday.

Kevin Harmse was called for a handball inside the Toronto penalty area after Schelotto’s crossing pass hit Harmse in the arm from close range. Referee Michael Kennedy did not hesitate in signaling for the penalty kick, which Schelotto drilled past goalkeeper Stefan Frei in the 30th minute for his second goal in two games.

Columbus held the lead until Toronto midfielder Dwayne De Rosario’s long free kick was headed toward the Crew goal by Padula in the 84th minute. The ball deflected off the crossbar, hit goalkeeper William Hesmer in the back of the head and bounced into the net.

Fire 1, DC United 1
Patrick Nyarko goal in the 53rd minute helped Chicago earn at 1-1 tie with DC United. Luciano Emilio gave D.C. United a 1-0 lead in its home opener with an unassisted goal in the 7th minute with a long range effort. Nyarko’s tying score came in the 53rd minute when he took a pass on the right side of the penalty area and shot past charging United goalkeeper Josh Wicks.

Red Bulls 1, Revolution 1
Kenny Mansally’s goal in the final minute of regulation gave New England a share of the points in New York. The Red Bulls had taken the lead in the 35th minute, when midfielder Khano Smith’s crossing pass was inadvertently put into the goal by New England defender Jay Heaps. NYRB then held out until they allowed Mansally to sneak the their defense and knocked home a pass from Shalrie Joseph with about 36 seconds left in the game.

Rapids 2, Wizards 1
Goals from Terry Cooke and Omar Cummings allowed Colorado to win its home opener against Kansas City. During the game Wizards goalkeeper Kevin Hartman became the all-time saves leader in MLS with 1,139, topping former Kansas City star Tony Meola.

Cooke’s unassisted goal in the 65th minute have given the Rapids the lead, but Michael Kraus tied the game four minutes later. Cummings then scored in the 74th minute to secure all three points for the Rapids.

Earthquakes 3, Dynamo 2
San Jose finally found their scoring boots as they used three first half goals to beat the Houston Dynamo.

It was a wild first half as Ryan Johnson put San Jose ahead in the 30th minute and Arturo Alvarez made it 2-0 3 minutes later. The Dynamo responded with goals from Chris Wondolowski in the 34 minute and Brad Davis less than 90 seconds later to tie up the game.

But the Earthquakes kept fighting and Cam Weaver scored the winning goal, and his first career MLS goal, in the 44th minute.

Chivas USA 2, FC Dallas 0
Eduardo Lillingston and Bojan Stepanovic each scored second-half goals to lift Chivas USA to a 2-0 victory over FC Dallas. With the win Chivas is now 2-0 for the first time in the club’s five-year history, while Dallas has lost each of its first two games at home.

Gerson Mayen made his MLS debut memorable, setting up Lillingston in the 56th minute by bending a pass from near midfield. Lillingston raced past Dallas defender Aaron Pitchkolan and took control of the ball from outside the top of the penalty area, placing a left-footed shot into the right corner from 16 yards away.

Stepanovic, who also made his MLS debut, added an unassisted goal in the 75th minute, less than six minutes after he entered the game as a substitute for Lillingston. Stepanovic dribbled past two Dallas defenders before firing into the left corner from inside the penalty area.